BOCA RATON – Patrick Garrity always had the drive.
Once again, he’s searching for the ride.
A true road dog of a comic, Garrity tours so frequently that he doesn’t even have a home address.
For years Garrity has driven coast-to-coast, border-to-border, putting the kind of mileage on cars that even the brashest Madison Ave. advertising executives wouldn’t promise.
And his cars were more than transportation. They were also his calling card. After shows he’d invite fans into the parking lot and have them autograph his car.
“That’s like my Batmobile, my niche,” Garrity said.
But that trademark came to an end in March outside of Jacksonville, when his 2004 Nissan Xterra unceremoniously quit on him. The Xterra was so old that no one manufactured the wheel spindle he needed to replace. To get a used one would take at least a week and cost $1,500 – and there was no guarantee it would work. After all, he’d recently put $1,500 to fix the same wheel assembly.
When a friend in nearby St. Augustine offered him the use of a 2000 Nissan Maxima that had been sitting unused in a driveway, Garrity grabbed the keys.
A new Batmobile it wasn’t. His new car, which leaks oil and recently needed a new set of tires, is gray, a color too dark to make for a proper autograph palette.
That didn’t stop him from pulling into the Biergarten parking lot in Boca Raton on Thursday to headline a show that included semi-retired heavy hitter Lenny Travis, surprise guests Flip Schultz and Steve Lamm, and local favorite Nadeem Awad.
Garrity views this ride, unlike his previous three, as a temporary solution.
“I’m trying to save money so I can get another car that’s white – so I can have people sign it – and dependable,” Garrity said. “Preferably with AC.”
Garrity’s 1994 Honda Accord, the first car he had fans sign, traversed nearly 400,000 miles before an accident ended its run. A GoFundMe campaign allowed Garrity to purchase a 1999 Honda CR-V. He drove that car until it was stolen. By the time the CR-V was located Garrity had already purchased the Xterra,
But Garrity couldn’t bring himself to part with the CR-V. It’s been parked at a friend’s place in Fort Lauderdale, and everyone once in a while people ask if the car is for sale.
“My fans bought me this CR-V. It’s super sentimental,” Garrity said. “It’s not for sale. It will never be for sale.”
The CR-V is about to ride again. With his friend about to move, Garrity is losing his parking spot. His plan is to attempt to drive the CR-V to Arizona, where it will stay with his girlfriend.
With 240,000 or so miles already on the odometer, does the car have more than 2,000 more miles left in the tank?
“We’ll see. It turned on,” Garrity said. “Come one baby, just give me one more.”
Before heading west, Garrity will make the rather short drive to New Smyrna Beach, where he’ll headline shows on Friday and Saturday at Madcaps.
